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By PAUL H.B. SHIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


Julie Moya, the reputed madam of a Manhattan hooker ring, vows she will surrender to the law as soon as she takes care of her many pets in Long Island.  

The fugitive madam accused of running a multimillion dollar prostitution ring admitted yesterday that she presided over a chain of deluxe pleasure dens in Manhattan.
"I know prostitution is not a legal thing, but we're the friendliest, the nicest, the best that there is in New York City as far as that goes," Julie Moya told the Daily News.


But in an exclusive interview, Moya, 47, said she is furious at allegations that she recruited underage girls to serve her clients.

"There were never any underage girls. Never, never, ever," said Moya, whose brothels in midtown and house in Long Island were raided by cops Thursday amid 25 arrests.

"One time when an underage girl came to us, we immediately threw her out," said Moya. A close friend has described Moya as a "hooker with a heart of gold."

"Underage girls - that's no good," she said. "I would never agree to that."

"I ask them for IDs and try to make sure they're of age."

Moya promised to turn herself in to cops today, but only after she makes sure the menagerie of pets at her home in Freeport, L.I., will be cared for.

"If I turn myself in, I'm hoping they give me a decent bail," she said. "I'm not a murderer or a child molester. That underage [allegation] got to me because I have kids too."

Her alleged hooker ring - Julie's of New York City - advertised itself on a Web site featuring young women posing in provocative lingerie.

Customers were charged $200 to $400 for various sex acts, authorities said.

Moya admitted her role as a madam, and even sports a license plate on her car that reads: "JULIE NY." But she disputed the claim that her prostitution ring was a $3 million-a-year operation.

"Believe it or not, I don't have much money," she told The News. "I literally take all the money I have and save stray animals and take them to vets."

Moya said the reason she did not turn herself in at Manhattan's 7th Precinct stationhouse Friday as promised was because she was trying to find homes for her pets, including cats, dogs, parrots and turtles.

Moya, who got her start as an exotic dancer in Cincinnati, said she can't understand why authorities chose to crack down now on a business that has been an open secret for a decade.

"It's the oldest game in town. We don't hurt anyone. We just offer pleasure," she said. "It's something that will never stop no matter what. So if it's run properly, I don't understand why they don't legalize it."

"New York has always been known for fun, 24 hours a day," she continued. "It's almost become like living in Ohio, where I was born, and I left for that reason."

"I love the business and I'm sorry it had to end like this."


Closing down the love dens


New York's sex-for-sale industry has taken some hard hits in recent weeks.

Before authorities zeroed in on alleged Long Island madam Julie Moya, at least two other big-time flesh peddlers were busted for running call-girl rings.

Jenny Paulino, the so-called Million-Dollar Madam, is charged with farming out high-priced hookers to luxury prostitution dens in Manhattan high-rises.

After she was arrested last month, the Daily News got a look at one of the opulent lust nests with its stockpile of condoms, hampers of soiled sheets and a bedroom sign that read: "Tipping is appreciated."

Paulino has hired O.J. Simpson's Dream Team lawyer Robert Shapiro to defend her against charges that johns paid up to $2,500 to bed down her buxom employees. She claims she was operating a legitimate escort service.

That's the same defense offered by Jason Itzler, who allegedly raked in millions by pimping out floozies through his Worth St. agency, NY Confidential.

Itzler, a law school grad who lived in Hoboken, N.J., promised customers "The Ultimate Girlfriend Experience" on his racy Web site and in magazines.

The ads were effective: Itzler allegedly had 100 hookers in his stable who wouldn't get into bed for less than $800 an hour.

But they also caught the attention of vice cops, who arrested seven of his employees and then tracked him down to his hideout in a Chelsea hotel.

Tracy Connor



-- Modified on 1/30/2005 5:29:50 AM

it's moments like these that make me thank my stars I haven't given out personal information in the screening process. There are too many stories in the press about agencies that absolutely insist that they keep no records only to find that they do keep them. Turns out that some of these places, some particular providers in the NYC area too, have a fetish for gathering information.... part of the "you never know when you'll need your ammunition' theory, like, ah, when it suddenly is in the interest of civic leaders, prominent citizens, and other upstanding pillars of the community to make the story die a dignified death before word reaches the wife's divorce attorney or makes it into an ivy league class newsletter...the kinkier the better if you ask me...these days databases and search capabilities are much deeper, far reaching that John Q. Public knows... only to see the light of day when you run for public office